September 29, 2016

ATLANTA— The Phillies entered Thursday night's game heading into their final game at Turner Field, as the stadium closes after this season's end. They were looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Braves, after dropping their last two games to the team.

It was a pitcher's duel for the most part during the first couple innings, until Jeremy Hellickson left the game in the fourth inning after giving up only one hit. Hellickson was later diagnosed with a knee strain, as his season ends with only three games remaining.

The Phillies held onto a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning, until Dansby Swanson tied the game up with a solo home run.

However, Jeanmar Gomez once again struggled in the eighth inning, giving up four runs, as the bullpen once again made it hard for the Phillies to claw back from any sort of deficit.

The Phillies pushed back in the top of the ninth with hits from A.J. Ellis and Aaron Altherr, who scored Ellis, but it was too little, too late as the Phillies dropped the game and the series to the Braves, 5-2.

The loss is the Phillies fourth straight, and they have now lost six out of seven games.

They'll head into the weekend to play their final three games at home against the New York Mets, who are looking to clinch the first NL Wild Card spot.

The Phillies send Alec Asher to the mound on Friday night, as he'll face the Mets' RHP Robert Gsellman at 7:05 at Citizens Bank Park.

Yesterday, we passed along a report from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that noted that the Philadelphia Phillies "planned to honor" Ryan Howard in Sunday's season finale, which most likely will also serve as his final game as a member of the team. That reporting is vague, and though specific details still remain thin, more continues to come out about how the Phillies will honor Howard.

The Phillies will have a “special pre-game presentation” to Ryan Howard, set to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The matinee between the Phillies and Mets begins at 3:05 p.m., with gates opening at 1:05 p.m.

The Phillies won't call this Howard's last game with the team because they have to formally buy him out of his $23 million option after the season, though it's fair to guess Howard will speak prior to the game, there will be tribute videos and perhaps even a few messages from former and current teammates to Howard will appear on the scoreboard. If you didn't know better, you would call that a going out ceremony.

For numerous reasons, Sunday's game may be the best game to attend at Citizens Bank Park in the second half of the season. It's fan appreciation day, it will turn into an appreciation day of sorts for Howard and it could still have playoff implications for the Mets.

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies will play for the final time at Turner Field tonight as the Braves prepare to move to SunTrust Park at the beginning of the 2017 season. Freddie Freeman will be looking to continue a 30-game hitting streak, which is the longest in the Majors this year and just three shy of the Atlanta record. Should Freeman reach base safely tonight, he'll also extend his on-base streak to 46 games, which would be the MLB's longest such streak this season.

When the Philadelphia Phillies elected not to trade starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, they did so under the belief that they could offer him a qualifying offer after the season, which would either mean the Phillies would retain him for the 2017 season or they would get a compensatory draft pick if he left in free-agency.

In a note in this space last week it was suggested that free agent to be pitcher Jeremy Hellickson could get the $17-million qualifying offer. But one rival suggested they’d be “nuts’ to try it, and that Hellickson would surely take it if offered. Hellickson had a nice year and the supply/demand issue will play in his favor, but after receiving what they deemed to be so-so or worse trade offers at the deadline for Hellickson, who made $7.8 million this year, they may view the choice as a “calculated gamble” they may not want to take.

There's a few things about the "rival's" take that should also be taken into account. First of all, she/he's a rival, so her/his team may have interest in signing Hellickson, and if they the 29-year-old hits free-agency without a qualifying offer attached to him, he's a much more intriguing arm to sign. Secondly, the Phillies would probably be a better team with Hellickson in the fold in 2017, not only because he can eat innings but also because his veteran presence would be positive in an otherwise young rotation. If the Phillies extend a qualifying offer to Hellickson and end up overpaying him for a season, so be it, they are a big market team with very little money on the books in 2017.

The easiest way for the Phillies to avoid having to take the risk of offering the qualifying offer would be to sign him to an extension prior to free-agency. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported over the weekend that the Phillies and Hellickson both do have some interest in an extension, but seemed to suggest that it wouldn't make sense for Hellickson not to test free-agency in what is expected to be a weak market.

Hellickson, 29, was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks this past off-season and served as the Phillies Opening Day starter in 2016. In 185.2 innings in 2016, Hellickson is 12-10 with a 3.78 ERA. According to Fangraphs, Hellickson has posted a 4.03 FIP, a 4.05 xFIP and a 3.1 WAR in 2016, all of which are the best numbers that Hellickson has posted in a full big league season.

September 28, 2016

Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin hopes that general manager Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail will give him more hitting to work with in 2017. (Frank Klose/Sports Talk Philly)

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

Not that he ever seems to hesitate much, but there doesn't seem to be any hesitation from Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin when the collective media asks him what moves he would like to see the team make this off-season. Mackanin reiterated his desire for the team to add hitting this off-season when speaking to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki earlier this week:

"Basically, having talked to the rest of the coaching staff, we're all pretty much in agreement with what our needs are," Mackanin said before Tuesday night's game against the Braves at Turner Field. "We need more hitting. I'm anxious to hear from [Phillies general manager] Matt [Klentak] and from [Phillies president] Andy [MacPhail] and if there's an owner there, we'd like to hear what they have to say."

ATLANTA — The Philadelphia Phillies (70-88) were hoping to shift the series momentum in their favor after last night's late-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves (65-92). However, that was not in the cards for tonight's match-up. Phillies lefty Adam Morgan was making his final start of the year in his hometown and to say that he struggled would be an understatement. He bumbled through five innings, allowing nine runs on ten hits to secure his eleventh loss of the season. The bullpen didn't fare much better. The Phils' pitching staff has allowed a whopping 65 runs in their last six games.

Offensively, the Phillies struggled immensely. Part of that is due to a lack of solid at-bats, but part of that can be attributed to the performance of Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz. The righty only allowed two hits and a single run over five innings and had excellent movement on all of his pitches. Foltynewicz looked like a completely different pitcher from the one the Phillies beat earlier this season; in that July game, he threw five and two-thirds innings and allowed five runs on eight hits. He deserves credit for the role he played in the Braves' victory over the Phils.

The Phillies have now lost eight of their last nine road games. Even worse, the team has a 16-35 record in their last 51 games against the NL East.

Though details have remained extremely vague, the Philadelphia Phillies do seem likely to honor first baseman Ryan Howard in some way in Sunday afternoon's game against the New York Mets. Though the game is already special in some senses because it is scheduled to be "Fan Appreciation Day," it will likely turn into an appreciation day of sorts for Howard, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes:

The Phillies tried endlessly to move him, but it never worked out. The team plans to honor him next Sunday in what should be an awkward moment in some respects. Howard is basically being pushed out, and there’s no guarantee his career will resume elsewhere.

Ryan Howard's legacy with the Philadelphia Phillies has been a hot topic in recent weeks, as his time with the team comes to a close. The team will buy him out of his $23 million option for 2017 following the season. Despite his decline, it's not only hard, but impossible, to imagine the Phillies winning five straight National League East division championships, as well as going to back-to-back World Series, without him.

After all, this is a man that won National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2005, was the National League MVP in 2006, was the NLCS MVP in 2009, led all of Major League Baseball in home runs twice, as well as leading the league in runs batted in three times.

Setting his play from the past couple years aside - when you used to think of the word 'Phillies,' you thought Ryan Howard. You thought of the stance we all imitated, the clutch moments he brought the city of Philadelphia, and that wide, pearly white smile.

You thought of him as the fastest player in MLB history to hit 100, 150, 200 and 250 home runs to start a career, and you also thought of him as the all-time leader in career grand slams by a Phillies player, passing Mike Schmidt for the lead back in 2009.

Albeit this season was not the most competitive year for the team, being in the midst of a rebuild, Howard is still showing some pop at the plate.

Despite toting an abysmal .196 batting average this season in 107 games, he has managed to smash 24 home runs - the most home runs he's hit since 2011 when he belted 33 while playing 152 games for the Phillies. This season, Howard is homering in 6.92% of his plate appearances.

His 24th home run of the year came off Julio Teheran last night in the top of the first inning, belting a grand slam to bring home three potentially big pieces of the future - Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera and Roman Quinn.

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Previously 70th all-time on the career Major League Baseball home run list, last night's grand slam ties him with Albert Belle at 69th all-time with 381 career home runs.

Roman Quinn's season has come to an end after another injury (Frank Klose/Sports Talk Philly)

The Phillies got some disappointing news last night during their game in Atlanta. Outfielder Roman Quinn, who has seemed to compile injury after injury, exited last night's game with another. And with that, ends Quinn's 2016 season.

A strained oblique requires rest to heal, so Quinn will head to the offseason to give it some rest.

So, for the season Quinn got 57 at bats and walked eight times. Quinn batted .263 with four doubles and six runs batted in. Quinn got on base at a .373 clip, which is encouraging for the Phillies in the future. However, the Phillies must question whether or not Quinn can stay healthy enough to be a starting player on the team, given Quinn's many injuries.

Quinn should be ready by Spring Training, and very well could make the team out of Spring Training. But, the Phillies may be less inclined to trade outfielder Odubel Herrera or other outfielders in the system, given the uncertainty around Quinn. The Phillies do know that Quinn has speed that is some of the best in the game, but he has to be healthy to use it.

ATLANTA — Philadelphia Phillies (70-87) starter RHP Jerad Eickhoff was cruising through four innings in the series opener against the National League-worst Atlanta Braves (64-92) and RHP Julio Teheran Tuesday evening at Turner Field.

Through four innings, the right-hander had allowed just one runner to reach with five strikeouts recorded: a solo home run to opposing first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Rain stopped game action twice in the series opener, the first a near 30-minute delay prior to the start of the contest and the second a one-hour, 53-minute delay coming after the completion of the bottom of the fourth inning.

Eickhoff's outing was cut short, putting the game into the hands of the Phillies bullpen which has a MLB-worst 8.03 ERA in the month of September. Ultimately, a 6-1 lead was erased resulting in the team's 87th loss of the season and their fifth straight loss the Braves.

Left fielder Roman Quinn left Tuesday's game early with a strained left oblique. He was 3-4 with a double, two runs scored and stolen base prior to his sixth-inning departure. He likely finishes 2016 with a .263/.373/.333 slash with four doubles, six RBIs and five stolen bases over 15 games.